UZBEKISTAN / TAJIKISTAN / KHYRGYZSTAN

ROUTE from samarcande to duchambe:
- leaving samarcande along registan road toward east, always straight on towards tadjik border after 40km.
- no trouble except that uzbek want to see all receipt for money but no registration papers are asked
- bad road till khojan road, cross road, up and down quite slow
- food in ayni, no water problem till duchambe
- pass starts at about 2300 for 15 km step on dirt road till 3200m, then down till duchambe with really good road in the end
- duchambe malohat band b close
- find some help in "bactria cultural center" with friendly people (you can buy a really expensive but good map for GBAO, it's useful for water points)
- acted GH: 10 dollars, nothing cheaper, acted is the street in front of the theatre (rajabov) then dead end on the right after the second crossroad
- great game company, they arrange gbao (but then stole me money on my credit card!), difficult to find the office behind varzob bazar

VISA:
- visa extension impossible without agency. they said it cost 45 dollard for a week and 50 for two with minimum 3 days delay
- china visa very easy: 50 dollars for 90 days, 2 days delay, china embassy on rudaky, 30 dollars for one week waiting

MONEY: exchange rate in duchambe 1 dollars = 3.3 tjk
1 euro = 4.14

- don t buy the cheap tuna-fish in black and yellow box, it's impossible to eat!
- no bike shops around

TRANSPORT: bus 1 and 8 are useful to move on rudaki


ROUTE from duchambe to och via pamir:
- easy to get out of duchambe via ayni street, then flat good road for 20 km aprox till a roundabout where you turn left for the northern road to khorog
- then roadquality is so so sometime, but they are working on it
- the further you are, the worse it is: up and down till the base of the pass with one cp at the cross road with the direct road to khirghistan (the boarder is closed for foreigners, info from a japanese cycler who tried and had to pay 100 dollars to pass)
- the end is asphalt
- on cp before pass after a cross-road with a bridge for khorog: no problem
- the pass is not really steep on good asphalt road and leads down to a nice gorge to reach kalaikim (on check post before it and in it)
- some shops there and good water
- road to khorog is quite good. more traffic, easy cycling
- khorog bazar not too bad but don't expect much - some pasta 1.7/kg, snickers 1.5, tea...
- internet is very slow but the last one before och
- road to ishkashim is easy cycling and good
- ishakashim: only time our GBAO have been asked!, bazar and food
- flat road, mainly asphalt till langard, shops on the way (zong better than langar)
- at the end of langar, left on the cross road: be ready for a really steep climb on sandy road = push
- there are many water points on the way, don't carry any from langar
- the first 15km took us 4 hours
- then easier cycling: sandy road but not really steep
- before the pass: check post, no problem
- pass really easy, water just before (close to a farm selling milk)
- down to the main road of pamir high way: some part really bad parts of the road, less water, some corrugation on the last flat km before the main road
- main road = asphalt: perfect till murgab, the pass on the map is not a pass, tail wind, very easy
- one cp before murgab
- after bridge in murgab: eli hot springs (40 km): nice place for relaxing and avoiding dusty murgab
à use the hot water for bathing and washing (5h cycling, mainly flat except in the end) 

murgab
theoretically a registration is required, 15 dollars / 24 somoni plus ecologic tax = one dollar a day
we paid nothing, just don't go there and don't stay long in murgab. they asked nothing after murgab and at the border à avoid staying a long time if you're not registrated

BAZAR: is really poor but there is petrol (bad 2.8 somoni) and basic food (snickers!) they sell some vegetables, home made in big glasses container = great with pasta (45 som), rice 5 somoni, pasta 1.9

HOTEL: hotel murgab, 5 som correct

ROUTE from murgab to och:
- 60 km flat, up, head wind, then 5 km steep for the 4600m pass with asphalt
- some bad road with corrugation for karakol but mainly OK
- home stay in karakol, not really good according to other cyclers who stayed there
- chinese border is closed to foreigners (2 american cyclers tried in vain and they even spoke chinese)
- the pass after karakol is easy but some steep sections
- check post after the pass, no problem
- other side of the pass road is so so till the border, glue asphalt and then no asphalt and corrugation and head wind
- take care: only few water points there, one river far away from the road and bad water if no filter (we didn't have one)
- small climb to the border, no problem, then 2 km up to the pass and khirghistan

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